The Board of Deputies of British Jews launched a newly expanded edition of its Employer's Guide to Jews and Judaism at the Strengthening the Jewish Way of Life and Combating Antisemitism Conference, hosted by Lord Mann at Lancaster House on Monday.
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds convened a roundtable of community and business leaders during the conference to discuss workplace antisemitism and welcomed the revised publication, stating, "I commend the expertise and commitment behind this important resource, which strengthens our shared determination across Government and in society generally to tackle antisemitism and ensure Jewish life thrives across the UK."
'One of the most significant initiatives of recent years'
Lord Mann, HM Government’s Independent Adviser on Antisemitism, praised the manual, stating, "It is one of the most significant initiatives of recent years. Every employer needs to get a copy and use it."
Produced through the Board's BoD@Work program after two years of stakeholder consultation, the comprehensive guide is for employers, HR professionals, managers, and Jewish employees navigating the workplace. The manual explains that Jewish identity encompasses both religious and ethnic dimensions, noting that Jewish people are protected from discrimination on both racial and religious grounds under the Equality Act 2010. It highlights that Jewish communities comprise approximately 300,000 individuals across the UK with diverse practices, identities, and denominations ranging from strictly Orthodox to progressive and secular.
To help organizations accommodate religious observance, the handbook walks employers through Jewish practices such as the Sabbath and festivals, which begin at sunset and involve strict work restrictions. It advises flexible work patterns and advance calendar planning to help employees adjust Friday hours or request time off without professional disadvantage. The manual also addresses life-cycle events, bereavement protocols, including the seven-day shiva mourning period, dietary laws regarding kashrut, and daily prayer requirements, which typically take about 15 minutes.
Regarding dress codes and modesty requirements, such as headcoverings or modest clothing, the text cautions that inflexible workplace rules can amount to indirect discrimination unless objectively justified by legitimate aims like health and safety.
The guide emphasizes that Jewish identity carries strong ethnic, historical, and cultural dimensions that exist independently of religious practice, meaning that individuals who are not strictly observant can still strongly identify as Jewish. To reflect this, the manual encourages workplaces to integrate Jewish heritage into equality, diversity, and inclusion initiatives by adding Jewish Culture Month, a project launched by the Board of Deputies, to corporate calendars alongside other commemorative months. Employers are advised that celebrating diversity in this way creates opportunities for staff to share aspects of their heritage, food, or holidays, such as incorporating a Hannukiah display during December.
Additionally, the guide recommends establishing inclusive, colleague-led Jewish staff networks. These forums offer peer support, build relationships, promote cultural exchange, and provide a direct line of communication to management. The manual notes that endorsing such a network clearly signals an employer's solidarity, showing that the employer takes faith and ethnicity issues seriously and will properly address any instances of antisemitism.
Addressing the sharp rise in antisemitism recorded by the Community Security Trust since October 2023, the manual outlines how international conflicts can trigger workplace tensions and reiterates that holding Jewish employees collectively responsible for actions of the Israeli state is a form of antisemitism. To counter this, the guide advises employers to offer adequate training to staff in understanding Jewish identity and antisemitism within wider equality, diversity, and inclusion training programs, recommending specialized training partners such as the Community Security Trust, the Antisemitism Policy Trust, JHive, and the Union of Jewish Students alongside cultural competency providers to ensure workplaces effectively address and prevent discrimination. It explains that the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of antisemitism can serve as an interpretive tool alongside UK equality law, which prohibits direct and indirect discrimination, harassment, and victimization.
Daniel Levy, Executive Director of Jhive, a UK charity providing antisemitism awareness training and Jewish inclusion support to employers in the UK and internationally, which was listed in the guide as a training partner for both antisemitism awareness and Jewish cultural competence, told The Jerusalem Post, “Much of Jhive’s work has grown since 7 October 2023, as employers realized they did not fully understand what their Jewish staff was experiencing or how best to respond. The new edition of the Board of Deputies’ guide responds to a real need among employers, and it is right to say that organizations should not rely on Jewish employees alone to educate their colleagues about antisemitism.”
“A guide is an important starting point, but it needs to be backed up by training, clear policies and confident management. What matters is whether organizations are equipped to recognize and respond appropriately to antisemitism, and whether Jewish staff feel confident raising concerns. Jhive is already working with employers in the UK and internationally to help turn this guidance into practical action,” Levy told the Post.
'Network can strengthen Jewish identity, feelings of safety and pride among colleagues'
Steven Phillips, the Executive Director of JewishERGs, a global network connecting Jewish employee resource groups across over 250 workplaces in 9 countries worldwide, told The Jerusalem Post, “I am pleased to see the launch of the Board of Deputies’ updated Employer’s Guide to Jews and Judaism. For many HR or Inclusion teams this guide may be the first such document they have seen. Practical guidance on Jewish identity, observance and the realities of antisemitism at work is a step forward; however, a guide is simply a start, not a finished solution. A lot of work remains to educate those leading HR and diversity functions on the real issues facing Jews in the workplace and beyond.”
“I believe that Jewish Employee Groups are one of the strongest ways to build both safety and belonging for Jewish employees. Through the work of JewishERGs, I see every day how a network can also strengthen Jewish identity, feelings of safety and pride among colleagues. These colleagues then use that confidence to help others understand what it means to be Jewish, and/or Zionist, often for people who have never knowingly met a Jewish person before. A great deal of work remains to encourage and support employers in creating and running Jewish Employee Groups, and I hope this guide sparks a conversation to help drive meaningful cultural change,” Phillips told the Post.